Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open With $2.5 Million in Overlay

Sep 1, 2014

Live poker is becoming increasingly popular again all over the world, which is in sharp contrast to online poker, which continues to decline in popularity. One of the best examples of how live poker is moving forward once again can be found by looking at the number of players at the WSOP this year, as well as at the 100th European Poker Tour in Barcelona.

The numbers are growing and several records are being shattered for every year they continue to run the tournaments. But not all big poker tournaments are experiencing growth, as the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open learned the hard way this year.

The tournament started out last year, where the Florida-based casino created shockwaves through the American live poker crowd, by making a $1,000,000 guaranteed live tournament. The tournament had a buy-in of $5,300 and reached a prize pool of almost $12 million, with $1.75 million for Blair Hinkle who won the tournament.

The tournament was such a success, that the organizers decided to try and host one this year again – with the same $10 million guaranteed prize pool. But after the three registration days are over, Seminole can see themselves losing $2.5 million in the tournament, due to overlay in the guaranteed prize pool.

Only 1,499 players registered over the course of the three days, paying a total of $7,495,000 in buy-ins, giving Seminole a bitter pill to swallow. It is always sad to see tournaments like this lose a lot of money, as the chances of them coming back again is much lower.

Daniel Allermand - Igaming.org Reporter

Daniel Allermand is a freelance writer, with more than 4 years of experience in the industry as an operator, affiliate and poker player. Daniel has decided it was time to try and bring more coverage about the industry to the general public by writing articles about everything from poker to casino.